Lake search resumes for missing boater

An aerial shot from a Maine Warden Service plane shows the area being searched for a missing boater, Scott James, 40, of Princeton, by three Maine Warden Service boats. (Photo Courtesy of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)

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Maine Warden Service wardens and a dive team prepare to search Big Lake for Scott James, 40, of Princeton in Washington County Sunday. (Photo Courtesy of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)

TOWNSHIP 27, Maine — Wardens continued their search on Monday for a man who has been missing since Saturday afternoon when he reportedly fell out of a boat on Big Lake in Washington County.

As of early Monday evening, the search crews had not located the missing man.

Searchers were at the scene on Big Lake near Grand Lake Stream at about 6 a.m. to continue looking for Scott James, 40, of Princeton, who fell out of the boat at about 5 p.m. Saturday while on a short boat ride with a teenage boy, according to Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The Warden Service reported that the boy threw a life jacket to James and then went into the water in an effort to help him. The teenager was rescued by campers who heard his calls.

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The search is taking place in about 20 feet of water near Greenlaw Island and the western shore of the lake. There were high winds and waves in the area over the weekend, Turcotte said, and a heavy thunderstorm forced crews to suspend the search early on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s a big area to cover,” Turcotte said Monday. “We have a general idea of where the incident happened and where to focus the search.”

At this point, wardens have not determined what caused James to fall from the boat into the water, and the incident remains under investigation.